The problem with permissions is they are a part of administration, which often means it is something required by the CMS to work, but outside the scope of what the 'real' users are going to have to deal with. In other words, it get's a raw deal.
Right-now, the general concept of permissions is really shallow. There is about one kind of permission 'system' and it is often the wrong one for the task at hand. Permissions simulate something in the real world, but they have unfortunately been tainted by the same concept as implemented by computers forever. The two things aren't the same. So you end up, invariably, with many user types with really large CMSs. The solution is not universal. It requires treating permissions NOT as an afterthought but as the primary control structure for what your users can get to. In some cases this might mean the traditional system, but with more thought about it from day one. Common, but it shouldn't be the default. Almost any CMS designed for a specific setting is going to be better served by some other method. Or at least a two stage method. And for the love of god multifaceted and not one-group one-person. If your CMS has 5 major sections: Media generation, Authoring, Section Management, Page construction, and Administration. You might not need more than those 5 user-types where you can mix and match. In which case, adding new types isn't something you need in the CMS itself at all. It really depends on the system you are building. But regardless, you need a holistic approach. Not a one-stop-shop solution for all CMSs. As a side note. I find all one-size-fits-all CMS solutions to be abominable. Perhaps some lower-budget sites 'need' these to exist. And I see the desire for people using the free ones. But at the end of the day, I rather see more site-type-specific CMS solutions. Blog, News, So on. In the end, CMS is making the web more and more hum-drum and samey. Convention is great, but only when it is the right ones, and only when it doesn't stand in the way... Then again, an easy-enough to use same-o CMS beats a crapily built custom CMS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=37015 ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... disc...@ixda.org Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
